Using Clipping Magic – deleting picture backgrounds without being tricky

It’s in no doubt that the Adobe suite of software is still the market leader when it comes to image manipulation. However, because they’re so powerful it can be heavy, taking a long time to load the software. A simple job such such as cutting out an image can take forever and with all the tools and options on offer, it’s difficult to remember how to do it. Clipping Magic is an browser based solution for this specific problem, currently free in Alpha.

In practice

I quickly made a logo transparent for a video that I’d been working on. The interface is very easy to use, you simply mark green on the area you wish to keep and red on the area you want removed.

Unlike Photoshop or Illustrator you can be pretty rough and ready with the area you want to remove. On an image as clear as this, the interface works out what you wish to do. Black background added below to distinguish difference.

I then tried something a bit more challenging for last week’s Tech review slide and a black and white picture of Damo Suzuki.

There are more tools to help you refine or blur the edges, this was particularly useful when trying the make the coat look normal on the leopard and Damo’s hair not look too “bob-ish”, as Clipping Magic calls it.

With these images you need to help the algorithm out a bit more, but it’s considerably easier than the magnetic lasso and wand tools in Adobe. The refinement tools are also simple.

How it helps you

Time is often of the essence and using this tool prevents the need to load Photoshop or Illustrator for a simple task. It also means you can cut out photos on any computer without the cost and time spent installing the Adobe suite.

Drawbacks

According to the website this application is free whilst still in Alpha, hopefully the cost won’t be too prohibitive and a paywall doesn’t impede the speed of access to this tool. If you did want to do a professional crop – something that would be used in print, it would always be better in Adobe.